Minerva's Blind Date
by Amandah Leigh
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and Minerva lets her friends set her up on a blind date. I suppose it would rated for innuendo. Just a bit of cute fluffy fun that I wrote ages ago. FYI: I am not JK, I don't own the characters, etc. Enjoy! Chapter Three Up!
1. Friends

Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and Minerva lets her friends set her up on a blind date. I suppose it would be pg13 for innuendo.

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**PART ONE: FRIENDS**

Minerva McGonagall did not like being set up on dates. Her best friends had often tried to find her "just the right man," and it always turned out to be a disaster. So why did she agree to this? Well, simply put, she was a little desperate. It was Valentines Day and the thirty-four year old witch had not had a date in over a year. It wasn't that she was unattractive, or had a rotten personality, or was of very limited intelligence, quite the opposite. She was just busy…that's all. She decided to wear a tasteful powder blue blouse with a scoop neck and dark blue skirt that fell to below her knees and a strand of her mother's pearls, a pair of black dress boots with a two inch heel and pearl earrings. She had chosen a light blue robe to wear over the dress, and her hair was braided with an off-white ribbon securing the end.

She was to meet her dinner date at seven-thirty at the Three Broomsticks (it is always good to meet a new person in a public place!) and continue on to dinner from there.

It was six-fifteen when she was startled by a knock on her door. She answered it only to find her friends and colleagues Rolanda Hooch, Pomona Sprout, Poppy Pomfrey, and Cicely Sinistra gathered in the hall.

"Um, hello." She said pleasantly. "Come to make sure I'm really going to meet this 'wonderful man' the four of you dug up?"

"Don't be silly!" said Poppy with a chuckle as the quartet entered. "We simply wanted to make sure you look…right."

"Well, how did I do?" Minerva inquired, and there was a pause.

"Pearls?" Asked Rolanda. "Are you the Queen Mum?"

"And that blouse?" added Pomona. "Are you a librarian?"

"I like the boots," stated Cicely. "But can't we add more heel?"

Minerva sighed. "Fine then, fine. Make me over."

The four friends grinned and immediately got to work. When they were through, Minerva looked at herself in the floor length mirror.

"I look like a hussy."

Poppy laughed. "That is only because you are not wearing your robe yet! Wear the black one, but the nice black one, with the silvery threading and the crimson trim."

"This dress makes my chest look huge."

"Good," said Rolanda wickedly. "Men like that."

"And I don't know whether I can walk in four inch heels."

"Hey, I did a fine job transfiguring those boots, Minerva," Cicely insisted. "Enjoy them."

Minerva looked herself over again. The dress they'd brought for her was sort of old fashioned looking, but very modern too. It had black spaghetti straps that held up a tight bodice of scarlet red. The skirt part of the dress was black and long, and there was an intricate black pattern over the red of the top. Truth be told, she looked amazing…but still she felt rather awkward. Pomona had taken Minerva's hair down and let it flow freely over her shoulders, using small diamond hair pins to pull it away from her face.

"I don't know if I can do this," said Minerva nervously.

"Trust us, Minerva, we know him!" Poppy assured her. "He'll love it!"

"Who is this mystery man that you all know that I apparently have never met?" asked Minerva, but the four refused to tell her.

Soon, it was time to leave. "Don forget the rose pinned to your robe, Minerva!" Cicely reminded her, "Or else he might not know he's supposed to be meeting you. And he will be carrying a red rose from the same bunch as this one, so look for that. Enjoy!"

"Have fun!" called Pomona with a grin.

"Lots of fun!" called Poppy with a laugh.

"Not too much fun!" called Rolanda with a wink.

"And tell us all about it tomorrow!" called Cicely. 


	2. The Date

**PART TWO: THE DATE**

And then Minerva was gone, around the corner to the stairs, down the stairs to the door, to the edge of the grounds to the Three Broomsticks.

As she sat and waited for the man with the rose (she was a little early) she began to ponder whether she had done the right thing, letting her friends make a doll of her, dressing her up. With a sigh, Minerva pulled out the hair pins and re-braided her hair, using one pin to fasten it. She didn't know whether it was the fact that it was Valentine's Day, or because she had not dated in a year, or because the girls had made this man sound so wonderful, but Minerva really, really hoped he would like her.

No, she knew why she wanted this to work out, and it had nothing to do with loneliness, or the holiday, or her friends. It was because of him. Him.

For the last few years, upon being hired at Hogwarts as Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration professor, Minerva had spent an awful lot of time with her friend and colleague, Albus Dumbledore. Last Valentine's Day, neither of them had a date so they spent the evening playing chess and chatting. The year before they had decided separately to take walks around the grounds, and met up quite by coincidence near the lake, where they decided to walk around together for awhile. The year before that, Rolanda had insisted upon throwing a party in the staff room, and Albus and Minerva spent nearly the entire time sitting in a corner watching others drink too much and act foolish. Those Valentines Days had been fun. But this year, when she ever-so-subtly inquired as to his plans, he informed her that he had a date. Later that same day her friends cornered her about a blind set up, and she agreed to give it a go.

She thought about all this as she sat there, sipping her gillywater, and she was so lost in thought she didn't even see him come in—the man with the rose that matched hers exactly. But he did enter, and spotted her, and smiling he made his way over to her table.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked, and she looked up, surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"Albus?" she asked, confused. "Where is your date?" ('I hope she stood him up!' she found herself thinking wickedly, but she pushed the thought away.)

"Well, judging by the exact color of that rose, my dear Minerva, my date is seated right here."

"Wha—what?" Suddenly she figured it out. Her friends' snickers, how they all knew this person they set her up with so very well, his likes included chess and walks and joking and sweets…All of these were little clues! Oh, how stupid of her! She felt her cheeks growing pink.

"You're my date?" She asked, standing to meet his gaze more properly.

"You didn't figure it out?" asked Albus, blue eyes twinkling.

"You are a crazy old coot!" She scolded, but she was grinning, though her blush had yet to go away.

He smiled back. "Shall we go to dinner? I have made us reservations for eight o'clock at a rather nice place…well, I think it's nice…"

"Of course we shall! Lead the way."

So he did.

After they ate, he suggested they dance, for the restaurant had a rather nice dance floor in the middle and several couples were already taking advantage of the beautiful live music. When they stood she slid off her robe and placed it on the seat. She looked up to see Albus staring at her.

"Yes?" She asked, trying to suppress a chuckle as she surveyed his expression. He was staring at her dress.

"Well, you…uh. You look, nice, Minerva, did I tell you?"

She had to laugh. "Yes, you told me, though I daresay you were looking at my face at the time."

His eyes immediately rose to met hers, and this time he blushed a little.

"Uh…yes, right." He stammered. "Shall we dance then?"

He offered his arm to her and she accepted it. "We shall."

He danced very well, she noted (she also mentally noted that he looked awfully good in blue and silver, and she was glad her friends had changed her attire, though she vaguely wondered whether her red dress clashed with his auburn beard at all. He held her a little tighter and spun her around, and she decided she didn't care whether they clashed anyway).

After dinner and dancing, the pair returned to Hogwarts and Albus asked Minerva if she wanted to join him in his chambers – to play chess, of course! She agreed to a game and minutes later the board was set up.

"Where are my manners?" Albus said, then asked Minerva whether she would like anything to drink.

"Tea, perhaps?" She answered, and followed him over to the little table where he conjured up some tea and saucers. She stood beside him and he turned around to face her.

"Do you, uh, take tea in your…that is, lemon or…anything?"

She chuckled and stepped forward. "Are you nervous about something, Professor Dumbledore?" She asked, perhaps a little suggestively.

"No! Of course not… I am merely old, and we confuse our words at times."

"I don't buy that, Albus." She took another step towards him. They were standing very close to one another now.

"Would you buy that I am dying to kiss you right now, Minerva?" He asked, and she paused.

"I wouldn't want you to die, Albus, so to avoid such tragedy, you may kiss me if you wish."

He placed a hand gently on her waist and pulled her into him, pressing his lips to hers. The kiss quickly grew in intensity, and when they broke apart he kissed her neck once and asked whether he could release her braid from it's confines. She said yes, so he did. He ran his fingers through her long, dark hair and they kissed again. This continued, truth be told, for some time before they returned to the couch and their... er... chess game.


	3. Morning

**PART THREE: MORNING**

After her date with Alastor Moody, Poppy told her fiancé to make himself comfortable in her room so she could check on Minerva, but after knocking several times, she came to the conclusion that, as of Midnight, Minerva had not returned.

About an hour later, Pomona returned from her date with boring but renowned Herbology researcher Harvey Pickle and she, too, knocked on Minerva's door. No answer.

Cicely Sinistra slipped out of her room around 2:30 am, unbeknownst to her longtime boyfriend Terence Bones, and she slipped down to Minerva's room, where she knocked and knocked. No response.

Rolanda Hooch scandalously did not return to the school until eighty-thirty in the morning. Where she was, only she (and perhaps one other person) could say for sure. She immediately went to Minerva's room and knocked and knocked. Nothing.

Minerva awoke around nine in the morning, and was pleasantly surprised to find herself still in Albus' arms.

On the couch.

The two had been up so very late, talking and laughing and kissing and, yes, playing chess, and had fallen asleep together somewhere around three.

"Good morning, Minerva," Albus said quietly after he saw she had awoken.

"Good morning, Albus." She paused. "My friends will never believe that nothing happened last night. And if they do believe, they'll be so very disappointed."

"Well," he said, a smile forming across his lips. "We don't want to disappoint them, do we?"

"No, I suppose we don't," she said, feigning innocence. "But whatever shall we do?"

He kissed lips before he said, "I have a few ideas."

She laughed and allowed him to lead her to his bed chambers. "Well!" she exclaimed just before he closed the door. "This was one blind date that certainly turned out right!"


End file.
